Brussel Airlines strike disrupts flights for second day

19th November 2013, 0 comments

A strike by pilots grounded scores of Brussels Airlines flights for a second day Tuesday, mainly to European destinations but also disrupting long-haul traffic.

After cancelling around 100 flights on Monday, about half of its traffic, the company in the morning announced the cancellation of 71 flights to and from Brussels, including connections with New York and Nairobi.

The announcement followed the failure of overnight conciliation talks between management and trade unions, who are protesting cutbacks that include the planned retirement of eight pilots aged over 58.

The airline is 45 percent owned by Lufthansa and last year agreed a 100-million-euro ($135 million) raft of savings with the unions.